T-N EDITORIAL: Local swine flu response appropriate

Published: Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, June 22, 2009 at 9:12 p.m.

Early Thursday morning, parents and grandparents were in an uproar over reports that swine flu had been confirmed at two Henderson County summer camps.

Several called the Times-News, hoping to learn which camps they were. At the time, it seemed as if the Henderson County Health Department had done a disservice to the camp industry. By withholding the names of two camps, it was endangering the economic livelihood of all the camps.

But within hours, after they talked to lawyers (who doesn’t talk to lawyers nowadays?), health officials identified the camps and gave a complete account of what was happening. They deserve credit for their response, and their continued vigilance without hysteria.

Goodness knows, a little less hysteria about the swine flu would serve everyone the world over.

As we’ve said repeatedly in this space, the panic over the swine flu “pandemic” has more potential to do damage than the ailment itself. We’ve already had abrupt and unjustified school closings, and a threat to the summer travel industry. The potential last week for a mass withdrawal of summer campers seems to have been avoided. Cooler heads, at last, did prevail.

Here and elsewhere, we would be wise to notch down the threat level. A pediatrician called the Times-News last week objecting to a headline on BlueRidgeNow.com referring to a camp with the flu. Camps don’t get the flu, he said, people do. Point well taken.

It would be journalistic malpractice, of course, for us not to cover confirmed flu cases when they occur. But we also should hold ourselves to the same standard we urge of others: keep it in context, adhere to the facts, avoid melodrama.

The swine flu is a mild strain of flu, usually causing no more than two days of high fever. The World Health Organization reports 141 deaths worldwide from swine flu, with 106 of those in Mexico and 27 in the U.S. In comparison, garden variety seasonal flu kills 35,000 to 50,000 Americans each year.

As the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Henninger pointed out in a recent column, WHO is not doing its own health education effort any favors by dropping the nuclear bomb of “pandemic.” Perhaps, Henninger suggests, some other word ought to be coined for the global spread of a new but mild form of the flu.

One of these days we probably will be faced with an outbreak of a deadly virus, and we ought not use up the panic on the relatively harmless swine.

The county Health Department and the summer camps here reacted responsibility.

“The camps have done an excellent job of screening their campers and quickly isolating those with symptoms of influenza-like illness,” Linda Weldon, the Health Department’s communicable disease supervisor, said on Thursday.

The Health Department and camp staffs are not going to do anything to jeopardize children. The county agency and the camps recommend that parents check their children’s temperature and make sure they are symptom-free before coming to camp.

After that, we would add, don’t worry. Campers in Henderson County are in good hands.

<p>Early Thursday morning, parents and grandparents were in an uproar over reports that swine flu had been confirmed at two Henderson County summer camps.</p><p>Several called the Times-News, hoping to learn which camps they were. At the time, it seemed as if the Henderson County Health Department had done a disservice to the camp industry. By withholding the names of two camps, it was endangering the economic livelihood of all the camps.</p><p>But within hours, after they talked to lawyers (who doesn’t talk to lawyers nowadays?), health officials identified the camps and gave a complete account of what was happening. They deserve credit for their response, and their continued vigilance without hysteria.</p><p>Goodness knows, a little less hysteria about the swine flu would serve everyone the world over.</p><p>As we’ve said repeatedly in this space, the panic over the swine flu pandemic has more potential to do damage than the ailment itself. We’ve already had abrupt and unjustified school closings, and a threat to the summer travel industry. The potential last week for a mass withdrawal of summer campers seems to have been avoided. Cooler heads, at last, did prevail.</p><p>Here and elsewhere, we would be wise to notch down the threat level. A pediatrician called the Times-News last week objecting to a headline on BlueRidgeNow.com referring to a camp with the flu. Camps don’t get the flu, he said, people do. Point well taken.</p><p>It would be journalistic malpractice, of course, for us not to cover confirmed flu cases when they occur. But we also should hold ourselves to the same standard we urge of others: keep it in context, adhere to the facts, avoid melodrama.</p><p>The swine flu is a mild strain of flu, usually causing no more than two days of high fever. The World Health Organization reports 141 deaths worldwide from swine flu, with 106 of those in Mexico and 27 in the U.S. In comparison, garden variety seasonal flu kills 35,000 to 50,000 Americans each year.</p><p>As the Wall Street Journal’s Daniel Henninger pointed out in a recent column, WHO is not doing its own health education effort any favors by dropping the nuclear bomb of pandemic. Perhaps, Henninger suggests, some other word ought to be coined for the global spread of a new but mild form of the flu.</p><p>One of these days we probably will be faced with an outbreak of a deadly virus, and we ought not use up the panic on the relatively harmless swine.</p><p>The county Health Department and the summer camps here reacted responsibility.</p><p>The camps have done an excellent job of screening their campers and quickly isolating those with symptoms of influenza-like illness, Linda Weldon, the Health Department’s communicable disease supervisor, said on Thursday. </p><p>The Health Department and camp staffs are not going to do anything to jeopardize children. The county agency and the camps recommend that parents check their children’s temperature and make sure they are symptom-free before coming to camp.</p><p>After that, we would add, don’t worry. Campers in Henderson County are in good hands.</p>